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Canada's Tavares to miss rest of Olympics

SOCHI -- Canada center John Tavares will miss the remainder of the 2014 Sochi Olympics with a leg injury sustained during his team's quarterfinal game against Latvia on Wednesday.

"He's got a leg injury, he's out for the tournament," Canada coach Mike Babcock said. "He'll be re-examined by the New York Islanders people and I'm sure they'll have an announcement."

Babcock said he didn't know if Tavares would be heading home right away.

Tavares, the captain of the New York Islanders, took a hard hit from Latvia defenseman Arturs Kulda in the second period and struggled to get back to the bench before eventually leaving for the dressing room. He did not return for the third period.

"He seemed to be in a fine mood," Babcock said. "Obviously disappointed he's injured. But I spoke to him."

Tavares has no points in four games but a plus-3 rating and six shots on goal while averaging 10:39 of ice time per game.

He's also third in the NHL with 66 points in 59 games with the Islanders.

"As a friend that's tough to hear. As a teammate that's tough to hear. Quite frankly as a fellow Canadian it's really hard to hear," Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic told the team's official Web site.

"He's an important player for that team. You want your best players playing in each scenario. It's unfortunate that John got hurt and things worked out that way. There's a lot of depth on that team and they're going to push forward. On a personal standpoint and a friend point of view, it's tough to see a guy go through that."